22042019 - ACUTE HUNGER: Outrage as IDP children feed on onion leaves

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 22 , 2019 — 13
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Air strikes in Dumburum killed only
criminals — Gov Yari
Z
A
M F A R A —
GOVERNOR
Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara
State, h<strong>as</strong> said his
government will not
apologize over the alleged
killing of villagers in the
state during bombardment
of suspected bandits camps
in Dumburum village in
Zurmi local government
area of the state.
The governor, who made
the statement when a 7-man
investigation team on the
matter visited him at his
Talata-Mafara private
residence, said Dumburum
village had served <strong>as</strong>
hideout for criminals over
the l<strong>as</strong>t three years.
The state’s Council of
Chiefs had a fortnight ago
alleged that innocent
citizens were recently
bombarded through air
strikes in the area by
personnel of the Nigeria
Air Force, NAF.
“As far <strong>as</strong> I am concerned
and <strong>as</strong> the head of
government in the state, l
haven’t seen anything
wrong done by the air force,
l have not received any brief
on such matter. Dumburum
h<strong>as</strong> been a criminal hideout
for over three years and the
Emir of Zurmi h<strong>as</strong> once
<strong>as</strong>ked me to go and wipe
out the area saying all those
residing there were bandits,
so l am surprised that the
emir will be part of those
saying innocent people
were killed in an encounter
in the area,” he said.
The governor who said
some powers were working
against the state,
maintained that “some
people will stay in Abuja
and fabricate things against
the operations in Zamfara
to distract the operation,
this we must not be
allowed.
“All security agencies
especially the air force
should continue with their
usual constitutional duties
and the state government
will offer all the support to
facilitate your concentration
in trying to restore peace
which h<strong>as</strong> eluded the state
since 2007. You should
continue with fire power to
show the criminals that
there is a government in
place and we won’t
negotiate with them again
because when we did that
in the p<strong>as</strong>t, the leaders
pretended <strong>as</strong> if all w<strong>as</strong> well
while they allowed their boys
to continue to lay siege on the
communities.”
Handing over a letter of
condolence to the governor
from the Chief of Air Staff,
Air Marshall Sadique
Abubakar, the team leader,
AVM Idi Lubo said it w<strong>as</strong>
part of the chief’s concern in c<strong>as</strong>e
the allegations were true.
PRESENTATION: From left—Former Governor Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, President Campaign
for Democracy (CD) Comrade Raji R<strong>as</strong>heed, Comrade Ol<strong>as</strong>upo Ojo of the Centre for Rule of Law and Executive
Director, Crime Victims Foundation, Comrade Gloria Egbuji, when Akpabio w<strong>as</strong> presented with the “Reach for
the Stars” award by 25 Human Rights Organisations for his uncommon transformation exploits <strong>as</strong> Akwa Ibom
state governor in Abuja.
Election fallout : Aisha Buhari wants Adamawa
people united •Seeks trust fund to fight poverty, devt challenges
By Umar Yusuf
YOLA—WIFE of the
President, Mrs Aisha
Muhammadu Buhari
h<strong>as</strong> called for the
establishment of a trust
fund to curb rising
poverty and other
development challenges
facing Adamawa state.
This came <strong>as</strong> she
pleaded with the people
of the state irrespective
of their political,
religious, ethnic and
other differences to forge
ahead for a rebirth of
new Adamawa
Mrs Buhari spoke
weekend in Yola at a
town hall meeting of
concerned citizens of the
state held at the banquet
hall in government
house.
She said “We are all
aware of the division the
l<strong>as</strong>t general election h<strong>as</strong>
done to our dear state.
We will not close our
eyes and see the division
getting wider and wider,
so the earlier we put our
heads together for a new
Adamawa state the better
for us and generations
yet unborn.I would like
to advocate the
establishment of
Adamawa Development
Trust Fund through
which prioritized
developmental projects
can be financed.
“With the rampant
security challenges,
interethnic conflicts,
poor educational
enrolment of <strong>children</strong> in
schools, poorly
functioning health
system, annual flood
being experienced, and
continued influx of
displaced people, our hope
and solution <strong>as</strong> a people lie
in our ability to join hands
and form a coalition
towards uplifting the state
from its present
predicament.”
Earlier, Secretary to the State
Government, SSG, Dr Umar
Bindir, said poverty level in the
state w<strong>as</strong> high .
Tiv/Jukun attacks: Gov Ishaku sues for peace,
wants end to killings
By Femi Bolaji
J
A L I N G O —
GOVERNOR Darius
Ishaku of Taraba State, h<strong>as</strong>
pleaded with the warring
parties in the Tiv and
Jukun tribes of Benue and
Taraba states to embrace
peace and end the wanton
killing of innocent lives in
border communities.
The governor in an
E<strong>as</strong>ter message to the
people of Taraba State,
lamented that the state had
recorded many conflicts in
recent times and suffered
many loses, insisting that
peace and unity w<strong>as</strong> a
collective responsibility.
The governor in a
statement by his Senior
Special Assistant on Media
and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu
said “we have had too
many crises and conflicts,
and lost too many innocent
lives and valuable
properties in the p<strong>as</strong>t and
these should stop.
“This E<strong>as</strong>ter is an
occ<strong>as</strong>ion for us in Taraba
State to resolve to work
much harder for peace and
unity among our people.
Peace is the greatest need
of the state at this point in
time and we must commit
ourselves to the search for
it.”
Meanwhile, the Tiv Cultural
and Social Association, Taraba
state, h<strong>as</strong> credited renewed
attacks in some border
communities of Taraba and
Benue States <strong>as</strong> the handiwork
of hoodlums, who it said were
bent on causing disaffection
between the Tiv and Jukun tribes
residents in both states.
The group said the latest
attacks by the hoodlums after a
peace meeting w<strong>as</strong> convened by
the government of Taraba and
Benue States l<strong>as</strong>t Monday w<strong>as</strong>
purely an act of criminality, and
stated that those fanning the
embers of war between the two
tribes are enemies of both states.
President General of the
Group, Goodman Dahida who
spoke at a briefing at the weekend
in Jalingo, reiterated that the Tiv
were not at war with the Jukun
tribe, adding that the unprovoked
attacks after a peace meeting
were a ploy by the miscreants to
frustrate the peace effort.
Shut mobile network in Rugu
forest to checkmate banditry
— Village head
By B<strong>as</strong>hir Bello He spoke during an
Kvillage
ATSINA—KATSINA
head,
Muhammed Bello h<strong>as</strong>
called for the shutting down
of mobile network services
in Rugu forest, hideout of
criminals and the affected
villages of Katsina,
Zamfara and Birnin Gwari
in Kaduna neighbouring
forest to dislodge criminals
from the forest.
Bello, the village head of
Guzurawa, Safana local
government area and one
of the front line are<strong>as</strong> of
Katsina State, called on the
government to partner with
the service providers to shut
down the service networks
to
barricade
communication between
the kidnappers, bandits
and their informants in
order to end the ugly trend.
interactive session
programme tagged Katsina
Forum facilitated by the
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua
Capacity and Capability
rehabilitation center held
over the weekend in the
state.
According to him, “Many
people have been killed by
bandits and most of the
survivors don’t sleep in
their houses <strong>as</strong> a result of
banditry activities in their
are<strong>as</strong>.
“There is a village under my
watch with more than 200
households, they have sacked
from the area. The village is now
empty because you won’t find
anybody there. People have
deserted their homes because of
the series of attacks. We are in
the villages, we know what is
happening."
Buhari's refusal over Ajaokuta
Bill disappointing — Ogembe
By Boluwaji
Obahopo
L OKOJA—SENATOR
representing Kogi
central senatorial district,
Ahmed Ogembe h<strong>as</strong>
expressed disappointment
over the refusal of President
Muhammadu Buhari to
<strong>as</strong>sent to the Ajaokuta Iron
and Steel bill.
The bill recommends that
$1billion should be sourced
from excess crude account
to revitalize the Ajaokuta
steel complex.
Senator Ogembe who
spoke while addressing
journalists said the re<strong>as</strong>ons
the president adduced for
rejecting the bill were not
sufficient considering the
importance of the Ajaokuta
Iron and steel complex to
the industrialization,
economic growth and
development of the country.
According to him, “Few
days ago, the Minister of
Transportation said the
Federal Government needs
about $40billion to
interconnect Nigeria rail
system and my position is
that, we will not need anything
close to that if we had invested in
Ajaokuta Steel Company to
produce steel needed for the rail
tracks and coaches. The
advantages of Ajaokuta steel
complex cannot be over
emph<strong>as</strong>ized <strong>as</strong> it is capable
of generating 3 million job
opportunities for our army
of unemployed youths
including over 12 thousand
engineers and generate
foreign exchange for the
country in excess of
$4billion annually thereby
reducing pressure on Naira
value.
“Some of the re<strong>as</strong>ons the
president gave in rejecting
the bill which include the
need for him to consult with
the National Economic
Council since the excess
crude account belongs to
the federating units w<strong>as</strong> not
done but the president
h<strong>as</strong>tily rejected the bill.
Again, I must say that the
inability of the president to
convoke a National
Economic Council meeting
where the Ajaokuta bill will
be discussed cannot be
said to be a legislative error and
hence there w<strong>as</strong> no need to reject
the bill out rightly."
Sweet sensation reopens
Opebi outlet with special
E<strong>as</strong>ter promo
S
W
E E T —
SENSATION
will be reopening its
Opebi outlet this E<strong>as</strong>ter
to continue serving her
esteemed customers in
that axis of Lagos.
The outlet which w<strong>as</strong>
temporarily shut down
h<strong>as</strong> been upgraded to
keep to the company’s
promise of delivering
quality service and live
up to its reputation <strong>as</strong>
one of the top quick
service restaurants in
Nigeria. The Outlet now
features a lounge, a
yippee outlet <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong>
a funsation outlet for
<strong>children</strong>.
The reopening comes
with a special E<strong>as</strong>ter
promo that will
culminate into a a lucky
draw which will take
place on E<strong>as</strong>ter Monday,
April 22, 2019. To qualify,
customers will need to
purch<strong>as</strong>e real deal meal
throughout the E<strong>as</strong>ter
period.